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If executives at ESPN were hoping that controversial show host Pat McAfee might reign things in a bit after the Aaron Rodgers-Jimmy Kimmel controversy, they’d better guess again.
ESPN gave McAfee a five-year, $85 million contract in 2023 that ruffled the feathers of several other employees.
Now it appears that McAfee has taken that deal to mean he has free reign, claiming in a recent interview that he does have ‘a mother f—— boss’ at the company.
That answer came from McAfee as part of an appearance of Showtime’s All the Smoke podcast with retired NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson.
At one point, the hosts asked about McAfee taking direct aim at ESPN executive Norby Williamson, who he claimed was trying to sabotage the show.
As it turns out, the two have yet to find common ground and McAfee is still trying to flex his power around ESPN.
“I report directly to [ESPN president] Jimmy [Pitaro] and [Disney CEO] Bob [Iger],” McAfee said. “I saw [media reporting] ‘Pat calls out his boss.’ I don’t got a mother f—— boss. What are we…? We talking Jimmy Pitaro or Bob Iger? Like, is that who we’re talking about? Because those are people that could technically be described as my boss.”
Pat McAfee Says He’s Been ‘At War’ Since His First Day At ESPN
McAfee then claimed that he felt he was “at war” as soon as he arrived at ESPN due to the backlash over his contract. He also claimed that certain executives, including Williamson, made it more difficult for his show to attract advertisers and viewers.
Although he did admit that he didn’t expect his comments to go as viral as they did.
“I genuinely did not expect it to get as big as it did because I didn’t think I said anything that was like that crazy,” McAfee said. “You know what I mean?…Like if I really wanted to saw a mother f—– down, I thought I could have done it in a much bigger way. And I did not. So I was actually pretty proud of myself. I was like, Look at me, I’m an adult. And then it got loud.”